Happy Valentine's Day

I have never been really into this holiday in the traditional way but I do have some happy and wild Valentine memories.

We got our first family pet, a gray and white cat, near Valentine's Day so we named her Valentine.

Before that though I remember my mom calling me into her room one night before bed and on the back of her toilet was perched two clear plastic heart containers with red-hot hearts inside. My name was written in gold marker on one of the plastic hearts. I remember being so surprised by this- where did they get a gold marker that would write on plastic? How did the box maker know my name? Did they make one for every name? I remember feeling so special that my sister Maggie and I got a valentine. Funny what sticks in your mind.

I remember when my boyfriend, now my husband, gave me a beautiful gold heart necklace for Valentine's Day. We never made a big deal of it- never went to big dinners, always just kept it low-key. When he gave me his card, I thought that was it and then he pulled out a little box. The look of pride and excitement and love on his face was the real gift. The necklace serves as an eternal reminder of that look.

When he was in grad school at Syracuse I flew out to surprise him for Valentine's Day. It was a big gesture. Long distance had been hard on our relationship as was the fact that I was working in the corporate world and he was still a student. I emailed one of his closest friends at school and coordinated a pick-up at the airport. It was Syracuse, New York in mid February and I had grown up in Arizona and California. I didn't own a winter coat! I borrowed what I needed and rang his doorbell at 10pm. He came out to the foyer in pajamas and looked at me as if I were a total stranger. His friend later admitted that for a split-second he was worried that I was not David's girlfriend after all, just some crazy stalker whom he brought directly to David's house at 10:00 at night! When he realized that I was actually there, in person to surprise him, the look of recognition and excitement that finally registered on his face was worth it all. It snowed the whole time I was there. But I finally felt like I knew where he was and what he was doing all day.

When we were newly married, I believe our second Valentine's Day as husband and wife, we were invited to dinner by one of the first major player's agents in baseball. This man was so interesting and had had his phones bugged by baseball owners trying to get the best deal on players he represented. He never gave out his information, barely ever left voicemails, paid for everything in cash. He invited us to dinner and then remembered that he had agreed to watch his nephew's hockey game in a town 45 minutes away. The day of, he moved our dinner to that town on Valentine's night. We were intrigued so we made the drive. He met us, had cocktails and appetizers with us, then ordered us the full romantic menu for dinner and left for the hockey game. He came back and had dessert with us and continued our conversation for another hour before we all had to drive back to our town. Wild!

The next year we had just moved back to California. My parents' house had just burned down the autumn before. I had just started a new job. We were invited by extended family to spend the weekend at Augusta National Golf Course. Not being a golfer I did not understand the magnitude of this invitation. I knew Augusta as a place that excluded women and minorities. I was not ready to ask for time off from a new job to go there. My patient husband basically ignored my protests and was nice enough not to tell me how ridiculous I was being. When I told my boss why I would need a few days off, he practically drove us to the airport himself. We got to Georgia and spent Valentine's night at a lovely dinner at Peachtree country club. Our time at Augusta was one of the most relaxing and restorative weekends of my entire life. All of the stress of the fire, the move, the new job melted away. The food and company were divine. The shower in that place was the best shower I have ever been in! I don't know if I will ever make it to Augusta again, but it was an experience I will never forget.

The last Valentine's Day that I really remember was three years ago when my daughters were exactly 2 months old. Our friend David Lee came over and brought us dinner. Right as we were eating it, the power went out on our block! I had to breastfeed by candle light. My David sat with me on the bed ready to help and our friend sat outside the room on the top step shining a wind-up flashlight in our direction just to add to the light. It took an hour to feed our girls and the power never came back on. It is a true friend who will bring you dinner on Valentine's Day and then sit in the dark for an hour to keep you company while winding up a flashlight.

Today our girls told us over and over that they were not our valentines because they are not cards shaped like hearts. They loved their cards and candy from their grandmothers and their cousin Maya. D made a nice steak dinner and we ate as a family. Doesn't get much better than that!